Canada2019112 minFrench, Vietnamese with English SubtitlesDrama, Family
A right-wing government controls Quebec, closing its borders and pushing immigrants to leave. Widower Hiên lives a meager life running a dépanneur. Enticed by his daughter Phuong’s move to Vietnam, Hiên makes arrangements to leave everything behind. But when a neighbourhood boy is left under the temporary care of Phuong’s aimless Quebecois boyfriend, Hiên is driven to solve the mystery of the boy’s missing mother.
Veteran Quebec actor Nguyên Thành Tri gives an intense performance as Hiên, a stoic ex-soldier with a deep history in conflict and post-war trauma, whose eyes have seen things many of us would never understand. Inspired by watching his refugee parents during the 1995 Quebec referendum, writer/director Ky Nam Le Duc’s film is framed by the Vietnamese refugee experience, where this not-so-alternate universe reveals desperate people in no-win situations whose only choice is to try to make the best of their newfound chaos.
– Aram Siu Wai Collier
Nguyên Thành Tri
Mickaël Gouin
Junior Jean-Baptiste
Alice Tran
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Festival du Nouveau Cinema, 2020
Gimli Film Festival, 2020
Ky Nam Le Duc
Ky Nam Le Duc studied film at UQAM and has directed a number of short films. His film, Oscillations (2017), premiered at Festival du Nouveau Cinema. He is a member of Les Films de l’Autre. The Greatest Country in the World (2019) is his latest feature film.
12 Nov, 2020 10:00 am
to 19 Nov, 2020 11:59 pm
PG

ASL interpretation will be made available thanks to Toronto Sign Language Interpreter Services. Ticket holders can watch on the CineSend Reel Asian portal.
November 14, 2020 at 4:30PM
This conversation invites emerging thinkers, artists and community cultural workers to consider digital futures for those without access to the city arts landscape, and by extension, digital opportunities. This event is part of the Reel Ideas Symposium.
Catch Oliver Husain's Lenticular Lencture this year at the festival, featuring a digital installation of "French Exit" and an artist talk.
Abundant with hope, desire, and resiliency, all six of these films make a statement to queer histories, presents, and futures—in front of and behind the screen. Includes National Film Board of Canada Best Canadian Short Film Award, Reel Asian 2020 winner SAFE AMONG STARS and winner of Change Connect Award, Reel Asian 2020 GOD'S DAUGHTER DANCES.